June 30-July 2: Salinas and Monterey

We slept late. We took our time getting ready for travel. We walked the pups. Yes; we lollygagged.

Evolving to a travel style that reduces the number of miles per day has definite benefits. Since we only had about 180 miles to log, Monday was an easy travel day.

Leaving Flying Flags, we cut through beautiful downtown Buellton (it’s only a couple of blocks) and hopped on US-101 heading north. We were traveling familiar territory, since we’ve been visiting this area since the late-1970s. It did feel strange to be headed north, as our past travels have generally had us coming to this area from San Francisco or thereabouts.

After some rolling hills, we cruised past Santa Maria, Nipomo (we’ll get to Jocko’s for steak next time!), and Arroyo Grande before catching another glimpse of the Pacific at Pismo Beach. From there, the highway turns back inland, and we were soon passing the little college town of San Luis Obispo and on the lookout for the vineyards that would tell us we were closing in on Paso Robles.

Continuing north and inland, we soon leveled out in the southern end of the Salinas Valley, “The Salad Bowl of the World”. Vines were still visible at times, but this area is really known for veggies. As we passed the brown NPS signs, I made a mental note to research Pinnacles National Park (“America’s Newest National Park”!) for a future stop (Spring or Fall appears best). Before we knew it, we were entering Salinas, our “home” for the next few days. We hopped off the 101 on the south end of town and were soon parked at the local Elks Lodge, overlooking the municipal golf course.

This is the third or fourth time we’ve stopped at this Lodge, and we were surprised – and pleased – to see signs of life! The Lounge was open in the afternoons and the hall was rented out for what looked to be a wedding. Excellent! We were disappointed with ourselves that we were so wrapped up in our own “stuff” that we didn’t get over for a libation, but we’ll get ‘em next time!

We didn’t actually get much done on this stop. I think we both needed a little time to decompress after the whirlwind of activities and emotions surrounding our stay in Lompoc. A little “chill out time” was definitely in order.

And, speaking of chill, the weather certainly cooperated, with lots of low clouds and fog and temperatures barely breaking the mid-60s. Like many of California’s valleys, the Salinas Valley is cooler at the north because the river flows from the south and ends near Monterey. Especially in the summer, warm air rising in the central and southern parts of the valley pulls cooler air into the valley from the Pacific like a funnel. The area around Monterey and Salinas tends to be stuck under low, thick clouds, even if it’s completely sunny 5-10 miles further inland. For those of us escaping the Arizona heat, this was quite welcome.

When we stopped here in the fall of 2012, I’d wanted to make a day trip over to Monterey, but we didn’t get around to it. This time, we actually did. It’s a short drive out CA-68 from Salinas, past Laguna Seca (motorsports and golf), and into Monterey. It was a ”gray day”, as they often are this time of year, but there were still a few tourists out and about, snapping photos.

Kayaker getting ready to launch from the public beach in Monterey

Remembering those lost...

Geri wants a water feature like this back in AZ. I'm sure the HOA will have no problem with that!

Cannery Row wasn't actually called that until after the Steinbeck novel...

There were lots of interesting flowers...

...and "grasses" growing along the beaches and pedestrian walkways.

We walked down Cannery Row, poked around in some shops, and eventually made our way to their version of “Fisherman’s Wharf” (much more true to its name than the one in San Francisco). Our destination was lunch at LouLou’s Griddle in the Middle, showing our Food Network tendencies (“As seen on Triple-D”!). We waited a minute for a table outside, only to be told they could only serve beer and wine inside. OK, we waited again for a few minutes for a table to clear.

Lunch was decent, although nothing spectacular. If we’d made a special trip just for lunch, I would have been disappointed. Since we were in Monterey anyway, it was fine. We shared a shrimp appetizer (as Akiko Katayama would say, “too oily”), Geri had Crab Cakes (“Too much salad; not enough crab”), and I had Abalone Sliders with Sweet Potato Fries (“Put that on the ‘done’ list”). Nothing was bad, just not great. Like most of the places we’ve ever tried because we saw them on TV.

Since we had some time to kill after lunch, I let Google be our guide, and it led us to a little wine shop/tasting bar a few blocks away. We were the only ones in there, so we ended up chatting with the clerk while tasting and selecting a few if-you-buy-something-from-the-shop-the-tasting-is-free bottles to take back to the coach. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

Memorializing Cannery Row characters

Now, many people know that Salinas is the birthplace of author John Steinbeck. Since I managed to get through my years of schooling without reading any of his “classics” (or at least without any lasting memory of reading them), this fact has never driven me to explore further. There are several sites that could be visited, including the National Steinbeck Center and John Steinbeck Library in Salinas and, of course, elements on Cannery Row in Monterey, but I chose to let sleeping dogs lie at this point. Someday, maybe I’ll feel the urge…

Back home, we finished our relaxing and did our preparation for tomorrow’s travel.